Ballista Monkey (Bloons Tower Defense 8)
The Ballista Monkey is a debuting tower in Bloons TD 8. It performs similarly to Juggernaut Max, firing high-pierce arrows at Bloons from a distance. Each shot pierces 4 Bloons and strips 1 layer off each. It doesn't pop Frozen, Lead, and Camo but pops any other Bloons. It has rather cheap upgrades even at higher levels and can make a big difference late game. It is essentially a Sniper Monkey with a piercing shot. However, it does have a slow firerate, forcing you to adapt to getting support or upgrades that boost its firerate. A Ballista Monkey costs $765 on Easy, $900 on Medium, $970 on Hard, and $1080 on Impoppable. Base Statistics * Cost: $900 * Attack Speed: 0.69 (better not make memes off of this) * Pierce: 4 * Layers: 1 * Damage Type: Sharp * Attack Type: Expiring * Range: 55 Upgrades Path 1 * Quicker Reload ($200) - "Shoots slightly faster." ** Increases firerate by 0.10 points. * Rapid Reload ($400) - "Shoots even faster!" ** Increases firerate by 0.22 points. * Gunpowder Arrows ($750) - "Arrows explode upon contact with their last Bloon. ** When an arrow reaches its pierce cap, it explodes. Bloons within the blast take 1 damage and the radius is about one third of a Mortar Monkey's shell. * Long-Range Rifle ($2500) - "Increases firerate even further and punches the living soul out of the Bloons!" ** Increases firerate by 0.35 points. ** Increases pierce by 1. ** Removes Regrow properties from Bloons shot by this tower. * Big Ballista ($10000) - "Huge arrows deliver even larger explosions and keeps the Bloons at a distance. They're sure not to forget this." ** Blast radius is increased to three fourths of a Mortar Monkey's shell. ** If an arrow travels 35 points of range, it becomes "vengeful" and deals 3 damage as well as triple this to Ceramic and above. * P.D.o.B. ($60000) - "With this mastermind defense, the Bloons are sure to miss their target. ** Increases firerate by 0.45 points. ** Increases pierce by 3. ** Increases damage by 1. ** Blast radius is twice as large as a Mortar Monkey's shell. ** Vengeful effect deals 7 damage and quadruple to Ceramic and above. Path 2 * Better Backpull ($150) - "Increases range of this Monkey." ** Increases range by 2.5 points. * GPS Ballista ($450) - "Expertise of the ballista allows Camo detection and more effective backpulling." ** Increases range by 1.5 points. ** Grants Camo detection. * Cryojet Launcher ($1200) - "Arrows pop Frozen Bloons and have a chance to freeze Bloons solid." ** Grants Frozen popping power. ** Provides a 15% chance to freeze Bloons. * Boomerang Ballista ($2000) - "Arrows make a returning path, dealing extra damage to Bloons that are hit on return." ** Once the arrows reaches maximum range (same range as tower), it rotates then returns, dealing equal damage to Bloons that are hit. Pierce of each route (depart and return) is equal to the pierce provided by upgrades that increase pierce. * Ballista Minions ($10000) - "Ability: Calls in two smaller Ballistae that wreck havoc on the Bloons. Lasts 15 seconds." ** Adds ability that spawns two Ballista Monkeys in random locations across the map. These have the same statistics as a base monkey with Monkey Knowledge considered. Duration is 15 seconds. Cooldown 1 minute. * Crucible of Blood ($40000) - "Ability spawns four Ballistae that are even stronger and hold out for much longer. Increases firerate of nearby Ballistae considerably." ** Ability spawns four Ballistae with 2/2/2 upgrades that last 15 more seconds. Cooldown is 1 minute 15 seconds. ** Increases firerate of Ballista Monkeys in range by 0.20 points. Path 3 * Reaching Springs ($150) - "Increases projectile speed of each arrow." ** Increases the projectile speed of each arrow by about 2%. * Instant Springs ($400) - "Increases projectile speed even more." ** Incresases the projectile speed by an additional 5%. * Airburst Arrows ($1250) - "Arrows split into 4 additional smaller arrows to cause more damage per shot." ** Arrows split into 4 smaller arrows when reaching pierce cap or max range. These arrows' stats are all half of a normal arrow. * Twin Ballista ($3000) - "Fires twice as fast and many arrows!" ** Doubles attack speed. ** Fires two arrows per shot. The added arrow still airbursts into smaller arrows. * Elemental Ejection ($12000) - "Every shot either slows Bloons with glue, burns up Bloons over time, or rattles off a huge bounty!" ** Every shot has a 33% chance to: *** Slow Bloons hit to half speed with soaking glue through all layers. Affects all up to BFB. *** Set fire to Bloons, dealing 1 damage every 0.5 seconds for 4 seconds. *** Drop a bounty bag that contains $200-750. After Round 100 this becomes $1000-$2500. * Ballista Fury ($60000) - "This upgrade introduces a wide fury that shall not stop." ** All possible effects from Elemental Ejection are applied to Bloons hit; bounties are automatically collected. ** Increases damage by 7. ** Increases range by 10 points. ** Airburst arrows split even further into 6 arrows per airburst arrow. ** Stats of all airbursts are equal to the stats of a base arrow. Trivia * It is believed that P.D.o.B. ''stands for "Perilous Destroyer of Bloons." * Backpull is the terminology used to describe the stage of a slingshot where the string and projectile are pulled back, ready to launch. * The terminology in the name ''Crucible of Blood is incorrect but proven to be correct by another word, given that crucibles are used to store and melt metal but "Blood" provides the storage and melting of blood. This in itself is weird because Bloons don't really have blood. Category:Towers Category:Monkey Towers Category:Military Towers